It may beggar belief to hear it in 2019, but Ireland may soon be at risk of a tuberculosis epidemic, after the Government announced its intentions to scrap the vaccination program against the disease.
The Health Service Authority has reportedly sent a brief to Minister Simon Harris recommending to end the BCG vaccination scheme, despite the fact that TB-related deaths actually increased from 10 in 2016 to 15 in 2017.
BCG stock expired back in 2015, and the Government claimed it could not find alternative supplier. Other European countries, include UK, did manage to source the vaccine elsewhere.
Tuberculosis was rampant in Ireland in the early 1900s, with an estimated 12,000 people dying from the disease.